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The greatest weight-loss strategies are the ones you can cherry-pick to fit your body and life. So go ahead and take your pick!

This list of little tricks to help you peel off the pounds was created with the help of registered dietitians, MDs, psychologists, trainers, and women who've been there, done that. Some of them might surprise you (chopsticks?), but these made the cut because they work.

"Leave serving dishes on the stove instead of at the dining table and you'll eat nearly 10 percent less. [And] pack snacks into single-serving bags. Eating out of a large container ups consumption by 61 percent."

—Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University

Embrace "breakfast dessert." In a 2012 study, researchers at Tel Aviv University Medical Center found that dieters who ate a large breakfast that included a sweet treat lost 37 pounds more over eight months than those on an equal-calorie diet with a smaller, low-carb breakfast.

Clench your fists when you have a food craving. A series of studies published in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2011 found that people were better able to control their impulses when they tightened a muscle for at least 30 seconds.

Have a bowl of vegetable soup before lunch; you'll eat 20 percent fewer calories at the meal, suggests research by Barbara Rolls, PhD, a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University.

Can't give up the bread basket? Use Fill your playlist with upbeat tunes. Research shows you'll naturally quicken your pace if you work out with songs that have 180 beats per minute. Go to mixmeister.com or jog.fm to analyze your list or choose new songs.

When you eat apples or use them for cooking, don't chuck the skins. A substance in apple peel increases muscle and healthy, calorie-torching brown fat, according to a study from University of Iowa researchers published in the journal "PLoS ONE" in 2012.

"Counter stress-eating with the 4-7-8 Breath: Inhale through your nose to a count of four, hold for a count of seven, then let go and exhale through your mouth with a whoosh for a count of eight. Repeat four times."